by Nick Thomas
Landing back at Takali, Beurling discovered his fuselage and wings had been peppered with machine gun fire, but he had been unaware of being fired on. There was, however, no time to reflect on the air battle:
‘As soon as the Spits were refueled we were scrambled again, but this time the raid turned back.’
Against the Squadron’s claims, No. 152a Squadriglia lost the Re 2001 piloted by Sottoten Romano Pagliana, which crashed near Zejtun. His No. 2 saw him bail out, reporting that his parachute failed to open. Pagliana was most probably shot down by Beurling. Official records reveal that at least five other No. 2° Gruppo aircraft returned with damage, including that flown by Tenente Colonnello Quarantotti.
In their debriefing, the Mc 202 pilots of 151a Squadriglia reported that five Spitfires had tried to separate them from the bomber force as it withdrew. During the ensuing melee, Capitano Doglio Niclot claimed to have destroyed one Spitfire, which his No. 2 reported seeing crash into the sea north of Veletts. This was most probably Pagliani’s Mc 202. A second was claimed by Tenente Francesco Montagnani. Tenente Michele Gallo claimed another Spitfire, which might have been Beurling’s which was badly shot-up.
Late in the morning, a raid of five Ju 88s targeted Hal Far, the Controller scrambling Nos. 185 and 603 Squadrons. The latter successfully engaged the enemy, with Pilot Officer A.A. Glen and G. Carlet each destroying a Ju 88. Meanwhile, Flight Lieutenant W.A. Douglas (flying BR345 X-A) and Flight Sergeant W.R. Irwin each claimed a Bf 109 damaged.
Beurling (flying BR323 T-S) took part in an uneventful Squadron scramble at 1300 hours. Landing to refuel, he joined a section strength escort for an Air-Sea Rescue launch at 1555 hours. Two of the Italian pilots Beurling had shot down that morning were picked up. One had been badly burned and did not last the night; the second had to have a leg amputated due to a cannon shell wound. He was also hit by machine gun rounds in the shoulders and arms, a further grisly testament to Beurling’s sure aim.
The young Canadian ace kept detailed notes on his combat victories and his few misses. These were recorded in what he referred to as his ‘black book.’ Having produced a formula for working out the best deflection shot, Beurling clarified this through the use of a graph for easy reference. He would later share his theories with the other pilots on his Squadron.
At 1820 hours, No. 603 Squadron had been scrambled late. In trying to reach the Ju 88s bombing Hal Far, the Spitfires were bounced by Bf 109s. Squadron Leader D. Douglas-Hamilton’s Spitfire was damaged and he made a forced-landing. Pilot Officer G. Carlet also claimed a Cant Z 1007 damaged.
Ten of No. 603 Squadron’s Spitfires were scrambled at 1615 hours, making an interception of five Ju 88s and their escort of Bf 109s, which were targeting Hal Far and the Safi area. Pilot Officers G. Carlet and A.A. Glen shared a Ju 88, while Sergeant W.R. Irwin, RAAF, damaged a Bf 109. Flight Lieutenant Douglas’ Spitfire, BR345 X-A, received combat damage and he made a wheels-up landing. Meanwhile, Pilot Officers J.W. Slade and A.A.Glen’s Spitfires were shot up, but neither was hurt. The Squadron ORB read:
‘Attacked by Bf 109s at about 5,000ft, but Glen and Carlet managed to go on and destroy two 88s on the way home. Pinkie got hit by return fire. Rest had dogfight with 109s, and Douglas was shot-up and had to crash-land without flaps, unhurt. Irwin shot-up that 109 and probably destroyed it. He too had a couple of bullet holes in his aircraft. Slade too was shot-up and had to land at Luqa, wheels down, but unhurt.’
Six Spitfires of No. 603 Squadron were scrambled at 1835 hours and vectored onto four Cant Z 1007 bombers which were escorted by twenty fighters. Pilot Officer Glen and Squadron Leader Douglas-Hamilton probably destroyed a Cant Z 1007 and damaged two more, along with an Mc 202. Flight Sergeant John Pinney damaged a Cant Z 1007. Meanwhile, Second-Lieutenant C.J.O. Swales shared another with No. 126 Squadron’s Flying Officer D.H. Smith (flying BP873), Pilot Officer John H. Bisley and Flight Sergeant G.H.T. Farquharson, RCAF. Tackling the fighters, Squadron Leader Douglas-Hamilton damaged an Mc 202 while Pilot Officer Carlet destroyed the Mc 202 of Sottoten Adolfo Giovannini of 353a Squadriglia and damaged a second.
Flight Lieutenant Bailey probably destroyed an Mc 202, while Flight Lieutenant Douglas damaged another. In reply, Flying Officer H.W. McLeod’s Spitfire, BR345 X-A, was battle-damaged.
Meanwhile, No. 126 Squadron’s Squadron Leader J.P. Winfield probably destroyed a Cant Z 1007. Flight Sergeant G.H.T. Farquharson, RCAF, Flying Officer Don H. Smith and Pilot Officer J. H. Bisley shared a Cant Z 1007 with No. 603 Squadron’s 2nd Lieutenant C.J.O. ‘Zulu’ Swales. Flight Lieutenant J. Bailey probably destroyed an Mc 202.
At 2010 hours, No. 249 Squadron scrambled ten Spitfires, being joined by eight from No. 603 Squadron in making an interception of three Ju 88s of II./KG 77, also coming up against their escort of fifteen Bf 109s of II./JG 53 and I./JG 77. The first enemy wave was making a low-level raid near Luqa. No. 185 Squadron’s pilots made several claims:
Squadron Leader W.G. New (flying BR321 GL-J) probably destroyed one Ju 88 and damaged another
Flight Lieutenant J.R.S. Halford (flying BR387) damaged two Bf 109s and a Ju 88
Flying Officer K.L. Charney (flying BR380) destroyed one Bf 109
Flight Sergeant W.G. Dodd, RCAF (flying BR303), destroyed one Bf 109
Flight Sergeant D.G. Reid (flying BR317) probably destroyed one Bf 109 and damaged a Ju 88
Sergeant Anthony Drew (flying BR119) destroyed one Ju 88
The combat was not totally one sided, however, and Flight Sergeant E. Moye3 was shot down by Oberleutnant Siegfried Freytag of I./JG 77.
Flying in pairs, as was No. 249 Squadron’s tactic over Malta, Flight Sergeant J.W. Williams and Flying Officer W.R. Daddo-Langlios attacked the bombers. Flying Officer Norman Lee and Sergeant Beurling veered off to keep the fighter escort occupied, Sergeant Beurling (flying BR323 T-S) destroying a Bf 109.
Beurling later recalled how two Bf 109s got onto his tail: ‘but I did a quick wing-over and got onto one’s tail.’ The Messerschmitt pilot followed Beurling’s manoeuvre which he tried to counter by going into a steep climb. Still at a range of about 800 yards, Beurling fired a three-second burst ‘full deflection shot,’ making allowance for his cannon shells to drop away. Beurling’s instant calculations were spot-on and his rounds struck the Bf 109 along the starboard side of the fuselage, rupturing the cooling system, in what has been acclaimed as one of the best ‘shots’ of the war. The Bf 109’s engine began streaming glycol and smoke until it reached sea-level, when it erupted in a ball of flames and plunged into the sea. Beurling later explained: ‘I elevated my guns to get him at that range. I wasn’t sure I had him at first, but he was seen to fly ten miles out to sea and explode.’
His victim was probably Feldwebel Anton Engels of I./JG 77, who was flying as White 4 (13386) and was seen to crash into the sea. Alternatively, the Messerschmitt could have been an aircraft of II./JG 53, which was simply posted as ‘vermisst’ or missing.
Beurling wasn’t finished there, as he sighted two Bf 109s at low altitude making for Sicily. Beurling pursued the enemy, but they out-paced him and he then latched onto a Ju 88 accompanied by a brace of Bf 109s. Beurling was just about to strike when two more Messerschmitt 109s appeared on the scene. Getting short of fuel, Beurling knew that he wouldn’t be able to enter into a protracted dogfight and still make base, and so reluctantly turned for home.
Flying at close to zero feet, Beurling had almost reached Malta when he spotted two aircraft closing on his tail. He assumed they were ‘friendly’ but decided to give them a reminder that they should never approach a fighter from anywhere other than alongside. Making a climbing turn he suddenly found himself confronted by two Bf 109s. Despite the fading light, which made lining up the enemy fighter more difficult, Beurling got one Bf 109 in his sights:
‘I took a pot shot at the rear Me, but the light was too low for any kind of sighting, so I slipped in across the coast down to Takali.’
Beurling had fired on instinc
t as much as anything. However, the combat occurred just off the coast and there had been plenty of witnesses, some of whom reported seeing the Bf 109 streaming glycol as it turned back. Minutes later Flight Sergeant J.W. Williams saw it go down over the sea.
During the final raid of the day, which began at around 2030 hours, No. 603 Squadron had been able to target the enemy bombers. Flight Lieutenant W.A. Douglas fired his guns but made no claim, while Pilot Officer A.A. Glen and 2nd Lieutenant C.J.O. Swales each destroyed a Ju 88. The third was shared by Pilot Officer G. Carlet and Flight Sergeant W.R. Irvin.
At 0730 hours on the following day (7 July), No. 249 Squadron scrambled eleven Spitfires, which were joined by six from No. 185 Squadron. Once airborne the Spitfires were vectored onto a formation of five Ju 88s with twenty Bf 109s including those of Bf 109s of II./JG 53, along with thirty Mc 202s, all targeting Luqa. The bombers succeeded in destroying one Beaufort and damaging two more.
Pilot Officer V.P. Brennan (flying AB562 X-R) and Pilot Officer O.R. Linton (flying BR324 T-R) each destroyed a Bf 109, Brennan damaging a second. Pilot Officer J.F. McElroy (flying BR301 U-F-S) destroyed an Mc 202 and Flight Sergeant T. Parks (flying BR165 T-Y) damaged a Ju 88 before he had his tail shot off by anti-aircraft fire and bailed out, coming down near Zebbug. Meanwhile, Flight Sergeant R.G. Middlemiss (flying BR251 T-E) was shot up and was forced to bail out over the sea. He was observed scrambling into his dinghy and was quickly picked up by High Speed Launch 128, slightly injured. He was admitted to hospital.
Middlemiss had been flying as wingman to his flight commander, Daddo-Langlois, when the latter was lining up a Ju 88, which he shot down. A Bf 109 had Daddo-Langlois (flying BR565 T-U) in his sights until Middlemiss intervened, but he was hit by the German’s wingman. Middlemiss later recalled that sensing that the enemy was on his tail, he had looked over his shoulder. A fraction of a second later he was hit by a burst of fire. The control column was wrenched out of his hand, while his arm had been pierced by bullet fragments. Out of control, his Spitfire went into a spin, but Middlemiss was initially unable to free himself. Somehow he managed to recover the crippled aircraft from its spin and threw the fighter onto its back, falling out of the cockpit at low altitude. Having managed to pull the ripcord, Middlemiss descended by parachute into the waters below. On landing, he freed himself from the canopy and endeavoured to deploy his dingy. Due to a faulty CO2 cartridge, he struggled to pump it up by hand, finally dragging himself onboard.
A search was made for Middlemiss, but in the wrong area, and it was only by chance that Brennan and De l’Ara spotted his dinghy while escorting a minesweeper.
Flight Lieutenant W.R. Daddo-Langlois’ aircraft had been slightly damaged before Middlemiss had stepped in to save his neck at the cost of his own. Daddo-Langlois noted in his log book:
‘Three of us went for the bombers but 109s prevented us getting them. Shot up again. Bob [Middlemiss] bailed out OK.’
Pilot Officer Rae noted:
‘jumped Blue section from all angels. Flight Sergeant Middlemiss shot down – OK, Flt Sgt Parks hit by flak – OK.’
Squadron Leader Lucas wrote:
‘Shaky do with 88s and 109s. Paul [Brennan] and Lint [Linton] got 109s, Mac [McElroy] a Macchi.’
Pilot Officer Brennan, who was making his last operational sortie of his tour, later wrote:
‘Scramble. I intercepted six Ju 88s with heavy fighter escort. Head-on attack on Ju 88. No result observed. Attacked and shot down an Me 109 [in a spiral] into sea. Damaged another.’
Also claiming Bf 109s destroyed were No. 126 Squadron’s Flight Sergeant W.G. Dodd (flying AB469) and No. 185 Squadron’s Flight Sergeant E.L. Mahar (flying BR292). The latter Squadron lost AB500, with Flight Sergeant D.W. Ferraby bailing out over land with leg burns.
At 1140 hours, No. 249 Squadron scrambled eight Spitfires, joining No. 126 Squadron on an interception of three Ju 88s with their escort of eighteen Bf 109s. Scrambled late the enemy were already closing in on their intended target, Luqa. Pilot Officer E.L. Hetherington (flying BR347 T-Z) damaged a Ju 88 but was hit by return fire and crash-landed at Luqa, uninjured. Flight Sergeant J.D. Rae (flying BR323 T-S) made a head-on attack on a Bf 109, the pilot of which immediately bailed out. Pilot Officer R.O. Jones reported seeing strikes on his Bf 109. Flight Sergeant C.S.G. De Nancrede (flying BP990 4-0) attacked a Ju 88 from below and obtained strikes on its belly and wing roots, claiming the aircraft as damaged. He was hit in the engine by return fire, also having his controls shot away. According to Beurling, De Nencrede’s Spitfire was hit by a cannon shell while: ‘in the middle of a roll. His engine began smoking to hell, so he bailed.’ De Nancrede was picked up by the crew of High Speed Launch 128, the Squadron providing two Spitfires as cover. Beurling recalled that De Nencrede was attended to by a doctor in the rescue launch, who removed a shell splinter which had pinned his eye-lid to his brow. Also rescued was No. 126 Squadron’s Sergeant R.H. Davey (flying BR566).
Meanwhile, No. 126 Squadron’s Pilot Officers J.H. Hicks and Sergeant A. Richardson each damaged a Ju 88, while Pilot Officer W.L. Miller damaged another. Flying Officer E.W. Wallace (flying BR115) was wounded and made a forced-landing back at base. Flight Sergeant P.A. Schade (flying MK-R) destroyed a brace of Bf 109s:
‘Attacked two 109s off Kalafrana, Fired six-second burst. E/A went into sea. Was then jumped by two more. Skidded out to port, they went past and I came back into position. Fired six-second burst. E/A rolled over and also went into the sea. Two Me 109s destroyed.’
During a later engagement, No. 603 Squadron’s J.G. Mejor (flying MK-R) destroyed a Bf 109.
Later in the day, five Cant Z 1007s and their escort of thirty-five Mc 202s and Re 2001s were intercepted by twenty-two Spitfires. No. 185 Squadron’s J.E. MacNamara damaged two Ju 88, while Flight Sergeant J.W. Yarra (flying BR387 GL-W) destroyed a brace of Re 2001s. His combat report read:
‘Intercepted five Sm 84s [sic] with fighter escort. I took my section down and engaged the fighters – odds six to one. Destroyed two Re 2001s. Haggas4 [flying BR283] and Terry5 both shot down. I was shot-up by 109s and had my wing panel shot away. Crash-landed on aerodrome.’
After 2200 hours, two Beaufighters were scrambled to intercept three Ju 88s which were approaching the island, shooting down one off the coast near Mgarr.
That evening, Squadron pals Bob Middlemiss6 and Gerry De Nancrede found themselves in hospital beds, which were end to end on the hospital balcony. From here, they watched the enemy bombers attack the harbour and the airfields. When the bombers began targeting the closer neighbourhood, however, they transferred to shelters in the neighbouring caves.’
On 8 July a signal to RAF Malta was received from His Excellency the Governor:
‘Please accept my congratulations on the grand work carried out by the RAF during the past 48 hours in defence of Malta. It inspires us all.’
At 0630 hours, sixteen Spitfires drawn from Nos. 249 and 603 Squadrons were scrambled, intercepting seven Ju 88s seen approaching the island escorted by Bf 109s. Flight Lieutenant L.V. Sanders damaged a lone Ju 88 over Gozo but his own Spitfire was hit by two Bf 109s. Being too low to bail out, he was forced to ditch and was rescued by local fishermen. Meanwhile, Flight Lieutenant Lester too had a narrow escape.
Scrambled at 0740 hours, eight of No. 249 Squadron’s Spitfires engaged six Ju 88s and their escort of twenty-one Mc 202s of 20° Gruppo and Bf 109s of I./JG 77 and II./JG 53. The enemy was reported as heading for Luqa. No. 126 Squadron had been the first up, more Squadrons were scrambled and a total of two dozen Spitfires met the formation over Gozo. The pilots of No. 126 Squadron attacked the fighter escort, with Flying Officer D.H. Smith (flying BR 122 MK-O) destroying a Bf 109, as did Sergeant C.F. Bush.
No. 603 Squadron’s Flight Lieutenant L.V. Sanders7 and his No. 2, Flying Officer N.S. Neville (flying BR198) fired on a Bf 109, Sanders probably destroying one, before engaging the bombers. Pilot Officer E.H. Glazebrook damaged two Ju 88s and Pilot Officer D.
G. Newman damaged another. During the same engagement Flying Officer N.S. King attacked and probably destroyed a Bf 109, while Flight Lieutenant R.A. Mitchell and Sergeant J.H. Ballantyne each damaged one. Pilot Officer F.R Johnson’s Spitfire was raked with machine gun and cannon-fire by Oberleutnant Gerhard Michalski of IV./JG 53 (his 38th ‘kill’), leaving him wounded in the left arm and leg.
The Squadron lost Pilot Officer N.S. King8 (flying BR198), who was killed while breaking off to chase a raider. He turned too steeply at sea-level, his wingtip striking the water and his Spitfire disintegrated.
No. 249 Squadron engaged, with Pilot Officer R.B. Hesselyn (flying AB562 X-R) destroying a Bf 109, which had passed close enough for him to pull his nose up and fire. The Bf 109 rolled over onto its back and dived straight into the sea. Flight Sergeant Beurling (flying BR128 3-W) also got his sights on a Bf 109, firing a two-second burst, claiming it as destroyed.
Beurling later explained that the Bf 109s were fierce in their defence of the bombers and therefore there were few opportunities to close within firing range of the Junkers Ju 88s. The Messerschmitts’ fire was so intense that the Spitfires seemed to be: ‘flying in the tracer smoke all the time.’ Beurling was forced to use all of his skills to get a shot at a Bf 109: ‘Finally I got one guy into my sights, from the tail, just for an instant. I let him have a two-second burst. He began to pour black smoke and hit the sea about three miles south of Gozo.’
Two pilots from Hal Far confirmed seeing it pouring out black smoke, before plummeting into the sea, three miles off Gozo. Meanwhile, Pilot Officer J.W. Williams (flying BR111 T-M) damaged a Ju 88 and a Bf 109. Sergeant C.J. Baxter belly-landed at Takali short of petrol.
